Transformation
by James Firebrand
Summary: Two teens are thrown into the whirlwind of madness and death known as the Reaper's Game. As time goes on however, the clouds of war gather, battle lines are drawn and the line between friend and foe blurs. Shibuya will never be the same. Pre-Game. 2.0
1. Into The Arms of Morpheus

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own The World Ends With You**

**(Well, I do own the game, but not the copyright and stuff...but you already knew that...yeah...)**

**Chapter 1: Into The Arms Of Morpheus**

**You can blame...I mean _thank _Legendarie L-T for this. I've had this idea tumbling around in my head for a while, but she's the one who beat me into submission and forced me to get on and write this.**

* * *

Anyone who looked into the small hospital room would've believed that there was no way it could get any more depressing. The stark walls were completely colorless and the single, small, grimy window looked out at nothing.

The room itself was deathly quiet. In the silence, each beep from the heart monitor was deafening, like a death knell.

The patient lying on the bed was young, no older than 15. His breath came ragged, wheezy. His skin was pale and there seemed to be no life in his limbs.

He peered up at the three figures standing around his bed. "So" He rasped. "Who died?" The woman standing next to his bed let out a kind of squeaking gasp and clutched his hand. A man stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. He was trying to fight back tears.

He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the words, but only succeeding in looking like a fish out of water. Finally, he simply closed his mouth and nodded. The patient returned the nod and turned to the final figure.

It was a girl about his age with long blond hair. She looked down at him with a sad smile. The patient returned the smile, then, reached over to a table next to the bed and picked up an old, worn, journal. "Sorry it took me too long" He said, handing the book to her. The girl nodded and clutched it to her chest. Silence reigned again.

A nurse quietly slipped in the door and stood invisibly in the corner. The scene would've affected her...twenty years ago. But since she had joined the hospital, she had seen the scenes like this too often. Too many, too young lives snuffed out too soon. Once all the tests had been run, all the treatments tried and all the hope exhausted, there was nothing left to do but wait.

After a time the beeping slowed and the breath became more and more ragged, until both stopped completely. All that could be heard was the monitors single, unbroken tone.

The woman squeaked and again. The man's face remained exactly the same and the girl bowed her head.

The nurse stepped forward and began to shut down the various machines. Then, she escorted the living out of the room.

For the next few hours there was a small stream of people flowing in and out of the room, taking tests and filling out forms until finally even this stopped.

Late that night a single, pale, weak ray of moonlight filtered in through the window. Slowly, it traveled across the room and up the bed until it crossed the patients face. And even more slowly, a cold smile split that face.

* * *

**And so it begins. What exactly I have no clue. I'll update soon, I hope. I usually take my time and plot out the whole story before even starting it, but this time around I felt like taking the plunge and just making it up as I go along. I have a basic plot never fear, but I'll have to fill in some holes as the story continues. Wish me luck! **

**What a wonderful world such should be...**


	2. Familiar Faces

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own The World Ends with You**

**Chapter 1:Familiar Faces**

**Once again it's The Legendarie L-T's fault. Apparently she's a glutton for punishment and agreed to become my Beta Reader. So if you've got any complaints about this chapter, flame her, not me. (Just kidding, don't sic Shanaro on me)**

**Sorry this took so long, but that login bug combined with an erratic writing style and inherent laziness culminated into a long wait. But hey! Look on the bright side! You could be waiting for me to update my GX story! So be grateful! (Or else...)**

* * *

I was asleep, at least that was what it seemed like. A deep sleep. Disjointed images and thoughts flickered past my consciousness.

I could remember the very day I started feeling sick. At first I thought it was just a bug and would pass in time. But it didn't. When we finally went to the doctor I was poked, prodded and put on enough medication to knock out an elephant. But nothing helped. After being put through a plethora of tests, our worst fears were confirmed. I had a terminal illness. Not only that, but I had less than a year to live. It was like standing on train tracks with the train approaching. You can hear it coming, but you know you can't do a thing to stop it. I finally collapsed one day in school and was rushed to the hospital for the last time.

Carmen's face flickered past my mind's eye. I could still remember her expression when I told her I was dying. Carmen and I had known each other since birth and we shared everything with each other. Although we never spoke of it, we both knew we meant more to each other than just friends. But even with my time running out, we were still too frightened to really express our feelings to each other. And now, it was too late...

I floated in limbo for what seemed an eternity. Then, I slowly started to fade away. But at the very edges of my senses, I heard it. Music. Unlike any I had ever heard. It was a song of fear. Of desperation. It was a song of pleading. Then, I was gone.

* * *

I awoke to a blinding light. Instinctively, I raised my hand to cover my eyes.

"Ahhh..." I groaned. "Wha--?"

"Welcome" The voice was matter-of-fact, yet slightly warm.

A figure emerged from the light, his face shielded by the glare.

"Wha-what happened?" I asked dumbly.

"You died" The voice said, sounding vaguely amused.

"I know that. But what is this? Is this heaven?"

The voice chuckled. "Not heaven, nor hell. I suppose you could consider this an afterlife of sorts, though it is nothing like what you may've imagined..."

"Then...where am I?"

"You, my friend, are about to enter the Reaper's Game"

"The what?"

The voice laughed again. "The Game is an opportunity, one for those who have died, to re-enter the world of the living"

"You mean...reincarnation?"

"If you insist on giving it such a demeaning term, then, yes. Though you should have no fear of returning as a snail"

The voice chuckled at it's own joke.

"Now, before the Game begins, I suppose I should tell you the rules"

A hand reached out and handed me a black non-descript cell phone.

"Every day for a period of one week, you will recive a mission in the form of an e-mail sent to this phone" The voice explained.

"Should you fail to complete the mission, your soul will be Erased from existence"

"Erased?" I was still confused.

"Also, roaming around the world you are about to enter are creatures known as Noise. In order to kill them and protect yourself, you will need two things. Firstly, you will need to form a Pact with another Player in the Game. Secondly, you will need these"

This time the hand dropped several small metal discs into my hand.

"But this" The hand held up a jet-black disc. "Is the most important Pin in your arsenal. This is known as the Player Pin. It marks you as a Player of the game, allows you to read the minds of those in the RG, seek out and fight Noise, and insert memes into the minds of others"

I took the pin dumbly, not sure what to say.

"I wish you all the luck in the world" The voice said with an air of finality.

"Wait!" I shouted, questions still swarming in my mind.

The light grew even brighter. Then, everything went black.

* * *

Something hard was digging into my back. I opened my eyes and sat forward, looking around. I was sitting on a bench near the statue of Hachiko. I snorted to myself. That dream had broken the triple digits on the weird scale, but, like all dreams, it died with the night.

I hauled myself to my feet, feeling thirsty. I spotted a vendor who had set up shop near Hachiko and trotted over.

"Soda, please" I said, digging in my pockets for money. My hands clinked against some round objects. Seems like I had more Yen on me than I thought. I grinned as I pulled my hand out, but the smile died as I saw the brightly colored graphics on the pins.

I paled. It wasn't a dream.

I looked up at the vendor. Despite the fact that I was standing right in front of him, he showed no signs of noticing me.

"Hey" I said. No response. "Hey!" Louder this time. I went around the cart and yelled right into his ear. "HEY!" Still nothing.

I began to worry. I was stuck in some insane Game, the rules of which I barely even knew. And on top of that, it seemed I had to worry about evil monsters coming after me!

I was on the verge of a full fledged panic when a simple strain of music began to play in my head. It circled round and round, a few basic bars. I watched the melody out of the corner of my minds eye. As I watched it, I began to concentrate on it slightly. The music became more complex. A little more concentration and the length increased. I had always liked music, of any sort. But this was different, and still strangely familiar.

"Hey!" A shrill voice jolted me out of my thoughts. The music vanished like a spider's web before a cyclone.

I turned to see a kid around 10 or 12 come sprinting towards me. He was stick thin and his eye's held the same stark panic I'm sure mine must've only seconds earlier.

"You-You're a Player right?" He was bent over double, gasping for air.

"Y-yeah, are you OK?" I asked, concerned.

The kid straightened up, I figured I was still right about his age range, but his paleness and the fact that he looked extremely sickly made him look even younger.

"D-do you want to Pact with me?" He asked, almost shyly.

I looked around, there were no other Players, at least not that I could see.

I shrugged. "OK, sure--"

A look of relief flashed across his face, before we were both enveloped in a icy blue light.

"What was that?" I asked.

The boy seemed frazzled as well.

Before either of us could say anything, out cell phones beeped. I opened it, to see I had received a text message.

Mission: Reach 104. You have 60 minutes.

Fail, and face Erasure

-The Reapers

I frowned. "That's it?" I asked. "Reach 104? That's pretty easy. Well, we--" I stopped dead as lancing pain seared my hand. When I looked down, I saw that a timer had been burned into my palm.

"Not exactly the most subtle of people are--?"

I stopped when I noticed the expression on my partners face.

"What?" I asked.

He pointed behind me with one shaking finger. "R-reaper!" He squeaked.

I turned to see the Reaper standing right behind me. He wore a black hoodie and a pair of black skeletal wings jutted out from behind him. But it wasn't the wings that caught my attention. It was his face.

"K-Kai?" I choked. No, it was impossible. My brother Kai had been dead for several years now. But there he stood, looking as healthy as the day he died, more so actually.

Kai's eyes held none of the warmth and kindness they had had when he was alive. He didn't even look at me, instead he stared at my new partner with a cold look on his face.

With a snort he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a handful of pins. Quick as a flash, he tossed them towards the boy standing next to me. Suddenly, the pins forms wavered, and with a pop, they transformed into a swarm of small blue, slimy creatures.

Thy boy screamed as the creatures latched on and began swarm across his body. I took a step forward to help him, but everything happened too quickly.

The boy continued to scream as he slapped at the creatures, but the slapping only made them madder. They swarmed over him even faster, until his screams stopped and he sagged. Both creatures and boy vanished in a blast of static.

The instant he vanished, the breath was ripped from my lungs and I collapsed to my knees.

"K-Kai" I gasped. "W-wha-- W-why?"

"Why?" Kai sneered. "I just saved your life. A partner weak enough to be Erased by a handfull of Sprog? You wouldn't survive two days with a weakling like that" He turned and started to walk away.

"You've got seven minutes" He said. "Find a new partner, or be Erased by default"

Panic gripped me again. I struggled to my feet and sprinted off blindly. I clutched my ribs as I ran, a stabbing pain was assaulting my insides. Everything became a blur as I dashed through the streets, not seeing, not caring where I was going. I ran until I could no more, before collapsing against a wall in a dark alleyway. The world spun around me as I gasped in vain for air.

Kai hadn't saved me, he had merely doomed me to an even quicker fate.

I didn't hear the approaching footsteps, but I did hear the voice of the person standing next to me.

"My, my, my" It said. "What do we have here?"

I squinted up, but it was no use. My sight was still too blurry to identify the speaker.

"I knew you weren't exactly strong" The voice continued, "But even_ I_ didn't think you'd be this close to Erasure this quick"

I concentrated and squinted harder. The face came into stark focus.

I paled and began to scoot backwards.

The figure rolled it's eyes, grabbed my by my collar and hauled me to my feet.

"What's wrong? Don't you recognize me?" It asked mockingly.

Unfortunately, I did. The face I looked into was my own.

* * *

**And thus the plot thickens! Seems like our hero can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone (or thing) he knows! But trust me. You think THIS chapter is filled with plot twists/weirdness? You ain't seen nothing yet...**

**Once again, thanks to The Legendarie L-T for putting up with me!**


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